Elite starts on high note, fades into one-note fare

One standout winner at Elite Cafe in S.F. is sugar snap peas with truffled goat cheese and Green Goddess dressing.

One standout winner at Elite Cafe in S.F. is sugar snap peas with truffled goat cheese and Green Goddess dressing.

Photo: Michael Bauer, The Chronicle

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Grilled angel food cake with strawberries ($8.50).

Grilled angel food cake with strawberries ($8.50).

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Fried green tomatoes with blue crab ($15).

Fried green tomatoes with blue crab ($15).

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Smoked chicken gumbo ($14).

Smoked chicken gumbo ($14).

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The Elite Cafe was refurbished in 2006 but the old-fashioned booths and the Deco interior were retained.

The Elite Cafe was refurbished in 2006 but the old-fashioned booths and the Deco interior were retained.

Photo: Darryl Bush, SFC

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The restaurant started life as the Lincoln Grill in 1928.

The restaurant started life as the Lincoln Grill in 1928.

Photo: Darryl Bush, SFC

Elite starts on high note, fades into one-note fare

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One bite of the sugar snap peas with truffled goat cheese spread over a thick pool of creamy Green Goddess dressing ($12) reveals the talent of James London, the new chef at the Elite Cafe.

Every element is in sync. And, with some of the pods split open to showcase the row of peas, the vivid green of the dressing and the white, red-ringed radish coins, the presentation is stunning.

That’s aside from the burst of crunchy sweetness of the vegetables, the earthy creaminess of the crumbled goat cheese, the vinegar spike of the dressing and the pleasant chile burn in the throat.

I had high hopes that London, who grew up in South Carolina and worked at Co-op in the Hotel on Rivington and several other high-profile restaurants in New York, had transformed the menu at this New Orleans-style restaurant that started life in 1928 as the Lincoln Grill and became the Elite Cafe in 1981.

In 2006, the restaurant was purchased by Peter Snyderman and remodeled, but he and his then-partner Joanna Karlinsky kept the 28-foot mahogany bar and the row of eight mahogany booths that resemble the curtained tables at Sam’s Grill. When Karlinsky left, they also wisely kept her Meetinghouse biscuits (four for $6).

Since then, Snyderman has added music to the venue — blues on Monday through Wednesday, and jazz on Sunday night.

However, after that first dish, it felt as if London was trapped in a genre he hasn’t quite embraced.

The deviled eggs ($6 for three halves), which have been on the menu since before they became trendy, could use a refresh; the dull spike of mustard in the whipped yolks and cayenne sprinkled on top were bland and boring, and the whites were rubbery.

Flavors were one-dimensional in the etouffee ($12) made with duck confit spooned around a dome of white rice. It might have been more alluring if the food had been served hot.

That was also the case with other dishes, including the pan-roasted snapper ($29) propped on a mat of pulled pork, pickled mushrooms and a potato puree that was as thin as sauce. The smoked chicken gumbo ($14/$24) was also too tame, and the flavors of the ham hock and roasted jalapeño didn’t shine.

It took so long to get dessert that we pressed the waiter call button on the side of the paneled booth, only to discover it wasn’t connected to anything — no one came. When the desserts finally did arrive, they were good — but, again, they needed a bolder hand: Chocolate chess pie was mostly sweet ($8.50) and the grilled angel food cake layered with whipped cream and strawberries ($8.50) looked better than it tasted.

In all, the experience was a little disappointing. The jazz added a lively note and the cocktails from behind the classic bar soothed some of the rough edges.

While the Elite Cafe is good, as the first dish showed, it could be so much more.